World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has been atop the PIF WTA Rankings for more than a year, and enters the season-ending WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF with the most titles won this year, and fewest matches lost, of any of the eight women in the singles field. 

But as she tuned up for the tournament on the practice court at King Saud University Indoor Arena this week, the Hologic WTA Tour’s best player was given all she could handle not by one of the peers hoping to deny her a first year-end crown, but by an opponent just over 4 feet tall: 9-year-old Sama Al Bakr, a promising young tennis talent from the Saudi kingdom.

Selected to join Sabalenka’s practice session, the youngster earned the four-time Grand Slam champion’s respect as she showed off sound technique — better than Sabalenka had at her age, she joked. 

“When I was 9, I didn’t know how to slice,” Sabalenka confessed, “so well done!”

Even Jasmine Paolini, a qualifier in both singles and doubles for the second straight year, stopped to watch the two play some points — maybe for scouting purposes? The Italian faces Sabalenka in the first match of the Stefanie Graf Group on Sunday.

Al Bakr is part of the Champions of Tomorrow presented by PIF, a tennis program delivered by the Saudi Tennis Federation at the WTA Finals for girls aged between 9 and 12. Champions of Tomorrow offers inspirational and educational experiences on and off the court, and participants also featured at the official draw ceremony on Tuesday.